Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1445 Latest Draft

Bill / Comm Sub Version Filed 05/01/2019

                            86R29232 JCG-D
 By: Rosenthal H.B. No. 1445
 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1445:
 By:  González of Dallas C.S.H.B. No. 1445


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to prohibiting carrying a firearm while intoxicated;
 creating a criminal offense.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Chapter 46, Penal Code, is amended by adding
 Section 46.025 to read as follows:
 Sec. 46.025.  UNLAWFUL CARRYING OF FIREARM WHILE
 INTOXICATED. (a) A person commits an offense if, while
 intoxicated, the person carries on or about his or her person a
 firearm, including a handgun or long gun, in a public place.
 (b)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
 (c)  This section does not apply to:
 (1)  a special investigator under Article 2.122, Code
 of Criminal Procedure, or a peace officer regardless of whether the
 special investigator or peace officer is engaged in the actual
 discharge of the investigator's or officer's duties while carrying
 the firearm; or
 (2)  a person who carries a firearm that is unloaded and
 encased in a container.
 (d)  It is not a defense to prosecution under this section
 that the actor carried a handgun under the authority of Subchapter
 H, Chapter 411, Government Code.
 (e)  In this section, "intoxicated" has the meaning assigned
 by Section 49.01.
 (f)  For purposes of this section, "public place" does not
 include:
 (1)  the interior of a motor vehicle not used for mass
 transit; or
 (2)  the actor's private residence, including the
 curtilage of that residence.
 SECTION 2.  Section 411.186(a), Government Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (a)  The department shall revoke a license under this section
 if the license holder:
 (1)  was not entitled to the license at the time it was
 issued;
 (2)  made a material misrepresentation or failed to
 disclose a material fact in an application submitted under this
 subchapter;
 (3)  subsequently becomes ineligible for a license
 under Section 411.172, unless the sole basis for the ineligibility
 is that the license holder is charged with the commission of a Class
 A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or of an offense
 under Section 42.01, Penal Code, or equivalent offense, or of a
 felony under an information or indictment;
 (4)  is convicted of an offense under Section 46.025 or
 46.035, Penal Code;
 (5)  is determined by the department to have engaged in
 conduct constituting a reason to suspend a license listed in
 Section 411.187(a) after the person's license has been previously
 suspended twice for the same reason; or
 (6)  submits an application fee that is dishonored or
 reversed if the applicant fails to submit a cashier's check or money
 order made payable to the "Department of Public Safety of the State
 of Texas" in the amount of the dishonored or reversed fee, plus $25,
 within 30 days of being notified by the department that the fee was
 dishonored or reversed.
 SECTION 3.  Section 411.198(b), Government Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (b)  It is a defense to prosecution under Section 46.025 or
 46.035, Penal Code, that the actor, at the time of the commission of
 the offense, was the holder of an alias license issued under this
 section.
 SECTION 4.  Section 411.206(c), Government Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (c)  Any judgment of conviction entered by any court for an
 offense under Section 46.025 or 46.035, Penal Code, committed by a
 license holder must contain the handgun license number of the
 convicted license holder. A certified copy of the judgment is
 conclusive and sufficient evidence to justify revocation of a
 license under Section 411.186(a)(4).
 SECTION 5.  Section 46.035(d), Penal Code, is repealed.
 SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
 an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.  An
 offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
 by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For purposes of
 this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
 this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
 SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.